India Post Payments Bank ready for nationwide roll-out
India Post Payments Bank ready for nationwide roll-out
India Post Payments Bank (IPPB), a new payments bank in India, will start a countrywide roll-out of its operations from May this year. By September, the roll-out will be completed, according to Ananta Narayan Nanda, the secretary of India’s Department of Posts.
IPPB, a subsidiary of India Post, opened for business last year with pilot services in Raipur and Ranchi.
Once fully launched, it will operate via the India Post network of 155,000 locations and have 650 offices providing back-end support.
The bank has received an investment of INR 14.5 billion ($225.2 million). Initially, the INR 8 billion ($124.3 million) fund was approved for IPPB, but “due to some cost escalation” the investment was nearly doubled, according to Nanda. “This includes investment in hardware, software, training and staff cost, among others,” explains Nanda.
For its technology, IPPB uses Infosys’ Finacle core banking system, FinTech Futures understands.
To date, Reserve Bank of India (RBI, the country’s central bank and regulator) has granted approval to 11 payments banks. These include Paytm Payments Bank, Airtel Payments Bank and Fino Payments Bank.
